After hours of tension and uncertainty, Lebanese rescuers have found the body of Amal Khalil, a Lebanese journalist from the media outlet, lifeless and under the rubble. Al Akhbar. The meeting comes after the Israeli army closed the Lebanese municipality of Tiri, and prevented rescue efforts after bombing the area on two occasions, causing two more deaths and several injuries.
Initially, two journalists were among the injured. Despite the Israeli blockade, he had managed to evacuate the bodies and one of the informants. When the paramedics undertook the rescue of the second reporter, who was feared to have been buried under the rubble, an Israeli drone launched a grenade at them from the sky.
In a statement, the Lebanese Ministry of Health has accused Israel of expressly targeting Khalil and Zeinab Faraj, the journalist who was successfully transferred to a hospital in the village of Tibnin. on a vehicle that was traveling through Tiri caused two fatalities this Wednesday. One of them was the mokhtar (notable) of the municipality, Ali Nabi Bazzi. The journalists, who according to the Ministry of Health were in the area, took refuge in a nearby house, but “the enemy pursued them,” the statement says, “attacking the building where they had taken shelter.”
The spokesperson for the Israeli troops in Arabic, Ella Waweya, has assured that the army has detected “two vehicles leaving a military building used by Hezbollah”, proceeding to shoot, after deliberating that the cars “had surpassed the advanced defense line and were approaching the Israeli forces in a way that constituted an imminent threat.”
Both statements shed light on events that had been shrouded in confusion in recent hours. The incident occurred in Tiri, one of the villages within the Yellow Line that Israel has drawn around the area it occupies in southern Lebanon, and which it alternatively calls the “Advance Defensive Line.” It is a territory that covers 5% of Lebanon, where Israel methodically detonates buildings and shoots anyone it deems a threat. This makes access to the place difficult, and witnesses and information scarce.
After that second bombing, the Lebanese news agency had reported that Israeli forces were “sieging” the wounded journalists, preventing the Red Cross from accessing the site. A contingent from that institution finally managed to reach the scene and take away two dead people and one of the reporters who, after surgery on her head, is stable.
Faced with the crisis, the Lebanese authorities mobilized at the highest level to rescue the affected people “as soon as possible,” in the words of Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. In a statement, Aoun had urged the Lebanese Red Cross to coordinate with the Lebanese army and the Mechanism. This is a committee, led by the United States—and involving France, Israel, Lebanon and the United Nations peacekeeping mission—designed to oversee the truce signed in 2024 between Israel and Hezbollah. At the same time, it is a body that serves as an indirect link with Israel.
In parallel, the Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam, has contacted the leadership of the blue helmets, while Paul Morcos, Lebanese Minister of Information, assures that the Government is implementing “intensive and urgent contacts”, including international institutions, to ensure a rescue operation.
Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists have denounced the attacks and the siege on the journalists. Locally, the Lebanese Union of Journalists has accused Israel of “a flagrant violation” of international law, as well as an “attempt to intimidate the press.” “It is not an isolated case,” he said in a statement, “but part of a series of violations that attack Lebanese journalists.” On March 30, an Israeli bombardment suddenly killed three journalists who were traveling in the same vehicle. The Israeli army justified the attack by claiming that one of them had regular contact with Hezbollah.
